Hypnic
by Rocket913
Summary: When the universe seems to come between two best friends, one already esteemed and one itching to prove himself, and the looming threat of a growing resistance challenging the Irken Empire's iron grip, Red has to make split second decisions to protect not only himself, but the empire and his closest friend. RaPR, lots of head canons yikes


Hello all! I haven't written fanfiction with official characters in a very, very long time. I had been focusing on my own independent stories, and so I hadn't the chance or desire to really work on much until lately. A good friend of mine got me into Invader Zim, a show that I was actually blood chillingly terrified of when I was younger. I appreciate it far more now, and fell in love with a couple of tol bois, and everything has been all downhill since then. A love of the characters turned into the formation of a bunch of headcanons and things of the like.

I am sharing this story for the heck of it, to share something fun with an audience! I'm not writing here with the intent of being perfect. I hope you all enjoy it! I'll do my best to keep this going until I reach some sort of end. I have a general plotline put together but nothing is set in stone yet, as my ideas are changing, reflected by my research of the universe and characters involved. Things will be starting up a bit slow, but I hope you'll bear with me and read along as this story forms.

Cover art by me!

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Red, Purple, or any other Invader Zim characters presented in this work. This will be RaPR. I will request that if you do not support the pairing, you politely refrain from reading it! Characters are depicted as I see them, which may or may not be true to how the creators intended or what other fans may see.**

**Marked M for language and violence. None of that occurs in the first chapter!**

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Chapter 1 - Chosen -

Little bits of glass scattered across the floor, clenched in the fist of its owner so tightly that it shattered into a billion pieces. The cloudy pale liquid within sprawled between the tiles of the floor as though to produce a visual of just how ludicrously quickly the glass's owner had gone from sedate and contained to dangerous, slick, and unconfined. What had once been a bustling room full of crude jokes and the cackling guffaws of the peoples held within fell dead silent, and each little green head turned to stare judgmentally at he who had disturbed the peace. Eyes of various shades of fuchsia, red, blue, purple, and green stared expectantly, waiting for some sort of explanation as to who would dare to interrupt their limited free time's casual banter.

A set of hostile red eyes glowered shamelessly back at them, their owner clenching his jaws and peeling his lips back away from a set of terrifying jagged teeth. Antennae flattened against his head, aura bristling so dangerously it was almost tangible, the disturbance shifted like he was going to move away from the mess he'd made in mock disgust. As though on queue, without a single word of suggestion or a request for aid, one particularly little fellow was already on his hands and knees, furiously scrubbing up the disaster without a care in the world of how much glass he got trapped between each delicate finger in the process. Thank goodness for drones. Red didn't need to waste his precious, limited attention by focusing on stepping oh so cautiously over a slick spot on the floor.

Instead, he could put his energy towards settling, regrouping, and pummeling the heads of these _insolent_ little _pests_ into the ground. Oh, but he desired to bloody his knuckles on the teeth of none so much as the one standing before him. He breathed — inhale, exhale, focus, focus — and then drew that vicious grimace back into a fully toothed grin, eyes falling half lidded lazily as he settled his posture. No, he wasn't scared of someone so pitiful they'd been reduced to insulting _his_ infallible brilliance or _his_ closest friend's physique.

Through his smile, Red formed his words carefully. "Sorry sorry, I must not have heard you right," he chuckled, but it was dry and dangerous, like the quiet hiss of a leaking hydraulic before it burst, leaving chaos in its wake. "You couldn't have possibly been so _ludicrously stupid, _that you'd say such _hurtful_ things about such _superior _cadets."

The instigator, who'd been grinning like a little monster back at him faltered at the taller Cadet's sudden display of calm. His smile fell away into a frown as Red's expression adjusted quite the opposite. Perhaps, he was considering each choice in his miserable life that led him to this exact moment in time. Perhaps, he was considering groveling at the feet of the _clearly_ superior Irken, kissing the black toes of his boots. Maybe, just maybe, he'd just turn and walk away. Red thought for sure that he'd turned everything around with his simple contentious remark.

He'd miscalculated before, but he'd not gotten himself into _this_ sort of trouble before. At least, not in quite some time. The room had been silent moments ago. The startling change in atmosphere had a whiplash effect. No one was able to get out of the way in time, the little drone still scrub scrubbing away before the tension between the two erupted into a flurry of teeth, fists, and claws. Red hardly flinched as the smaller Irken that had insulted him just moments ago lunged for him, instantly tearing through the fabric of his uniform to dig into his skin. Dark pink blood welled up around the new cuts that were scrawled across his arms and chest. He reacted slowly, his function dulled by the depressant in his system.

Red thankfully hardly felt the claw marks left in his thin skin, allowing an unsavory screech rip from the depths of his chest as he returned the attack blow for blow. How dare this insolent little _pest_? How dare he lay a _single_ _finger_ on him? How dare he speak to him with such _incontinence_? Such _dissoluteness?_ There were cheers and shouts from the crowd that had gathered about the two, eager for some diversity in their mundane military lives. Just a tickle in the back of his mind, Red was sure that he heard someone frantically calling his name, but he didn't pay it any mind. He wouldn't allow it to distract him.

He cracked his knuckles across the jaw of the other cadet, sending him scrambling back into the edges of the crowd. The threat of harming others didn't slow him down for even a single heartbeat, and he took pursuit, stomping across the short distance between them to grab the little twit up in his claws. Twisting the fabric of his uniform around his split knuckles, he hoisted him up to his tiptoes to yank up close to his face. Parting his sharp maw to spout another threat, he expected repentance from the lesser Irken. He got none.

His left cheek burned and he reflexively dropped his attacker in a heap to grab at the new mark scrawled haphazardly along his jawline. Stumbling back a half step, he took a moment to recover, looking truly and incomprehensibly stunned that he'd just been hit after towering over the little monster. Fully prepared and adjusting himself with the unwavering intent of tearing into this pesky scourge, Red took none too kindly to feeling hands grabbing him by the shoulders and holding him back.

"Red! Red are you _crazy_?" He trembled under the firm grip of those clawed hands. He swung his head around, glowering indignantly back into the wide indigo eyes of his captor. Hissing, spitting as he did so, he wrestled himself free in protest. Despite his efforts, he was snatched right back up as quickly as he managed to wiggle from his subduer. "Listen, as much as I'd _love_ to let you knock some sense into these guys, it's really _nooooot_ worth it, y'know? It'll ruin the night! Besides, we've got food back at the table waiting for us."

A voice of reason? Well, Purple was hardly reasonable nine times out of ten. Maybe this was that one out of the sum of times he wasn't _unreasonable_ or _ignorant_. Red only scuffled against him for another couple of heartbeats before he settled, hands clenched into quivering fists. The Irken he'd dueled in the middle of the restaurant stuck his little tongue out at them, his chest rising and falling rapidly like he'd just run a mile. His fatigue produced a spike of satisfaction in the depths of Red's chest, and he huffed like he could deal with this outcome.

"He deserved it," he growled. Purple just snorted, as though in agreement but unwilling to admit it out loud. Red gave him an expectant look, raising a brow at him as though to command compliance. As always, his companion gladly gave it to him.

"I guess he did, but look at _yourself_. You look like some sort of _wild animal,_" Purple said, to which he produced a scoff from the Irken beneath his hands. "_Anddddd_ maybe your judgment's a bit… skewed…? You think…?"

Red shrugged him off effortlessly. The other cadet gave no protest, backing off and motioning carelessly back the direction of their table. It was quiet again, everyone staring, everyone judging. Red bristled. "I'm _just fine_," he sputtered. But Purple was right. All he felt was blind rage, unable to reason beyond it. Was it _really_ necessary to hurt the smaller cadet for verbally abusing him? The answer was no. Was it satisfying as hell? Absolutely.

He shuffled back across the floor to the still-warm chair he'd left, settling down into the aluminum. Slowly but surely, the incident faded seamlessly into the past like it had never happened to the rest of the room. The prattle of the other Irkens enjoying their dinner resumed without a hitch. Red's fingers curled into fists on his lap, staring back at his food like he wasn't sure he had an appetite. The notion would leave quickly, as it always did. He'd always had an extraordinary appetite.

The table was littered with various sugary sweets, no doubt ordered by Purple. He had listened to him quizzically as he'd requested a box of donuts, various sugary exotic candies, a bag of chips, a large soda, and then some. Red had expecting him to order something of some sort of nutritional value. He couldn't say that he was _surprised_ that he hadn't. He'd gotten a sandwich, some fries, and fully expected to just steal a few sips of Purple's soda whether he liked it or not.

His antennae, which were previously flattened against his head had slowly perked up as much as he ever allowed, lifting ever so slightly from their flattened position as he inspected the food. He supposed he _was_ a bit hungry. His gaze flicked to his right when he felt a hand on his fist, one thumb pressing between his digits to loosen them from their white-knuckled grasp. Ever so reluctantly, and with a passing glance over his left shoulder, he took a deep breath and relented to Purple's prodding.

"Y'know you should really try some of these." Purple had sat down without much more coaxing beyond Red's reluctant relaxation. He was already stuffing his face with his meal, crumbs spattering out with each word. Red internally cringed, looking his companion up and down. "They're really good. And you're looking _skinny_ lately."

Skinny? Red puffed up indignantly. He wasn't _skinny_. His antennae twitched and fell back again, staring at his food just slightly more ravenously than before, but he still didn't take a bite. Was Purple really the one to be calling Red skinny when he was the one who'd just had his physique insulted for carrying a bit of extra weight? Now, it certainly wasn't much. It was likely a petty insult, grabbing at strings to try to light up the taller Irkens. Maybe their aggressor was just straining to provoke a hostile response. Well, he'd gotten one. Red absently lifted his claws up to his cheek, brushing off of the three slices there and allowing the frustration to bubble up in his gut again.

Purple seemed to notice, as he plopped a little donut on top of his sandwich as if on queue. He was grinning back at him with those oversized antennae perked up as they always seemed to be around Red. The sulking cadet hesitated a bit before he reached up to snatch it, eyeing it like he was going to cast it aside to be petty and indignant. However, upon making eye contact with his violet-clad friend, he decided against it. His indigo gaze glittered eagerly, expecting him to give into his silent plea at once. Red relented, maintaining eye contact and squinting at him, his dark eyes turning to little crimson slits.

Once he started his meal, there was no turning back. He finished it, tuning out the others at their table despite the conversation between them and Purple. Whenever they were together, Red didn't feel the pressure to converse with his peers if he really wasn't the mood. Purple more than effortlessly carried eloquent conversation and entertained anyone who could squeeze in to listen. People _liked_ to hear him. They _liked_ to talk to him, because he was welcoming, for the most part.

Red knew it hadn't always been like that. He knew all too well that he was spat on regularly as he was growing up, and for no other reason than his lackluster performance during the initial simulation training every Irken participated in. How those results had gotten out, he wasn't sure. Perhaps it had something to do with the blackout that occurred right before graduation. Perhaps that was where they'd all been stunted. He bit angrily into his sandwich, his eyes scouring the familiar faces at their table.

A part of him wanted to look around, to search for that other face, the face of the Irken that had single-handedly shut down all of Irk for four long years. That was only the beginning. He knew he wasn't here, but he couldn't help but scan the crowd anyway. His attention flicked back to Purple and his meal before him as another sweet was placed by his right hand that was gripping the edge of the table aggressively. Upon glancing over, he noted that his friend had not even broken conversation as he attempted to pacify his seething rancor.

Well, Red supposed, he could have just been handing him a sweet because he thought he'd like it, not because he noticed. However, when he didn't continue on his meal once more, Purple's gaze shifted knowingly over to him and he smiled like he fully understood the internal war he was dealing with. The red-clad Irken just frowned and drew his lids half-shut. When he turned back to his meal and the passive gift he'd been given, he couldn't remember what he'd been getting himself so worked up about to begin with.

"I heard a rumor floating around about you, Red," one of their colleagues across the table called. Purple's eyes lit up at the prospect of gossip. The ever so slightly smaller Irken beside him jerked to attention as he heard his name. He liked gossip. But he didn't like gossip when he was involved. He flicked an antenna, silently giving the pink-eyed colleague the acknowledgement that she was seeking.

"I heard that Tallest Miyuki was thinking about sending you off to command a small army in an invasion. Is that true?" She looked curious, as Red inspected her expression. Was she joking? Well, if she was joking it was a bad one. He certainly wasn't ready to command anything, much less his own armada. He scoffed dubiously and crunched down on the hard sweet candy that Purple had passed him.

"If it's true, I wasn't told about it," he said simply. "You'd think that she'd inform _me_ of big changes like this before saying stuff to myyyy… fellow uhm- the people in uh- the training course thin-"

"Colleagues," Purple reminded gently, and he shot him a churlish look, then promptly took up the word he'd used without missing a beat.

"Before telling my colleagues." He cleared his voice, and she glanced between them. She almost didn't seem to believe him, her wide pink eyes glinting with doubt.

"Yeah! I think that the Tallest would have said something to Red before letting a rumor like that get out on its own, right?" Purple backed him up instantly, which Red found himself grateful for. "It's probably just some sort of rumor."

"You mean you wouldn't _want_ to command an invasion?" The female Irken just gawked like she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Even if you were given the chance?"

"That's not what I'm saying."

"That's not what he's saying!"

Purple's thoughtless interjection was met with a sharp, steel pronged glare that held a strong silent threat. _I can speak for myself, _it seemed to say. _Now shut up before I make you. _He couldn't help but feel a twinge of irritation, deeply rooted in embarrassment yet from being corrected earlier. It made him sound stupid. Well, it didn't make him sound quite as stupid as he'd have sounded if he'd just continued talking himself into a hole. However, he didn't need help making his point now, despite the fact that Purple seemed awfully insistent upon it. The cadet alongside him blinked in silent understanding, shoving another donut in his mouth on queue.

"Well, then what _are_ you saying?" The cadet across from Red pressed, leaning forwards like she just couldn't wait to hear what he'd have to say to defend himself.

"What I'm saying is you shouldn't be making assumptions about things you have no knowledge of," the crimson eyed Irken spat, snatching Purple's soda from him to take another sip. There was no protest to be heard. It wasn't like he wasn't planning to give it back. "If it didn't come directly from the Tallest, I don't want to hear about it."

"Geez, Red, no need to be so defensive." She tapped her claws on the table, then stood. He watched her as she left to go dump her tray.

Purple snorted from behind him, and Red's gaze snapped to him like he'd set off some sort of alarm. Raising a brow in question, he prompted some sort of explanation. The look he had on his face must have been awfully amusing to the slightly taller of the two, because he just sputtered some more.

"I'm having an awful bout of deja-vu. Aren't you, Red?" He wheezed, rubbing the back of his head with a free hand. His crimson garbed companion sighed, allowing a smile to slip despite himself. "I've said the. _Exact. Same. Thing_. How many times? How many times, Red?"

"Enough for me to be sick and tired of hearing it." He reached up to give him a shove, to which his friend hardly retaliated with little more than a squeak and a lighthearted bat to the chest.

It was incredible how effortlessly Purple managed to get him to simmer down when he was on edge. What a feat in itself it was that he was capable of jabbing at him and poking fun without consequence. Very few Irkens, in fact, no other Irken shared that gift. No other Irken knew Red quite as well as Purple did. Strangely enough, that was okay him. There was no one more deserving.

The placid chitchat of the little restaurant drew to a hushed whisper as a new presence made itself known. Red's antennae snapped up and he hesitantly drew his focus from Purple, who was still giggling like a fool, to the newcomer. She was a tall Irken, heavily clad in brilliant fuchsia armor with a rippling steel grey cape. She had a presence to her that commanded the attention of everyone on hand. Of course, the audience being military-trained Irken cadets, most if not all heads turned to pay full attention to their superior. Purple even quieted his guffaws to soft little wheezes, ghosts of suppressed chuckles as the rest of the room drew chillingly silent.

"Elite Cadet, designation; Red," she rumbled, somehow louder than even the most boisterous of customers present just moments ago. The cadet shrank a bit in his seat. Perhaps he was in trouble. Maybe that sniveling little blight had gone and tattled on him and his foul temper, and now he was going to pay for it. He hesitantly stood, saluting her and straightening his posture respectfully.

"Yes, Commander Poki," he acknowledged, settling his posture as she gestured for him to come. He glanced to Purple, who was gawking almost fearfully. Any and all hints of the laughter that had nearly suffocated him moments ago were gone. Maybe he was thinking the same thing.

"Come with me, Cadet," she said firmly, leaving no room for protest. He was expected to obey at once and without question. He had no choice. With a nervous glance of silent apology in Purple's direction, he slowly stepped around the table. She spared him not even as much as a glance as she turned on her heel, and the two were guided into the bustling streets of foodcourtia.

"Commander, if I may," he began, and she tilted her head to glance up at him from the corner of one pink eye.

It was sharp with a threat. Red spooked a bit as she settled her gaze upon his, clamming up and forgetting what he was going to say at once. He was hesitant to leave his friend behind. He was directionless in his own way, at least in the manner of social endeavors. However, this was thankfully _military _social, not strictly _interim_ social. He could manage this.

"Tallest Miyuki has requested your presence at once," she said, reaching down to her gauntlet to press down on a touch sensor on the wrist.

It scanned her print, and opened up the boarding bay to her ship that rested lazily along the dock just a few meters above the streets. It had never looked so menacing before. What was it about it, now? Perhaps it was the idea of being alone on the ship with his Commander. He couldn't say he'd ever been in such a situation before. He thought for sure that this meant he was in big trouble.

Well, he shouldn't have been! He knew there'd been plenty of other cadets that had gotten into fights before. What made him so special? Was it because he'd been tattled on? That had to be it. He clenched and unclenched his fists, imagining that pesky little Irken cadet's neck clasped firmly between his claws.

"Relax," Commander Poki said, shutting the gate behind them and sauntering to the command chair at the front of her ship. "You're not in any trouble."

"Then… what is this about?" He dared to ask, sitting down in the passenger seat at her side to strap himself in.

She was granted the luxury of having one of the larger, faster ships to travel in. Her Spittle Runner was in peak condition, clearly a new model. That much was apparent by the strong smell of the factory in the fabric workings of the seats and around the walls to prevent an echo in the cabin. Even the faint beeping of her monitor, sending her signals and collectively presenting the ship's vitals, was not disruptive as it may have been in a little Voot Runner. Instead, it had an odd sense of serenity to it.

Without a word, she started the ship up. The dull hum of the engines working against the great gravity of Foodcourtia drowned out Red's anxiety. He watched as her fingers methodically started up every necessary function for the ship to have running for a strenuous takeoff through the planet's atmosphere. Her expression was lax and unconcerned as though she _hadn't_ just scooped up a cadet from his dinner without any explanation beyond a cryptic, _Tallest Miyuki has requested your presence at once._ It occurred to him that perhaps she didn't know why either.

It wasn't until they were well beyond the atmosphere and blinking signs in orbit of Foodcourtia that the Commander spoke to him. She didn't even look away from her controls and the vast expanse of the ever-growing space around them.

"Tallest Miyuki has been keeping a close eye on you for the past several years, as you've grown and progressed in your Irken Invader training," she began. "I don't know what her plans are for you."

Red's mind instantly went back to what the cadet sitting with them earlier had said. What if it wasn't a rumor? He wasn't ready! He didn't even get to say a proper goodbye! Such sentiments were frowned upon in an Irken soldier, but they were still important to _him_. He kept them tightly wrapped up, buried deep within the confines of his heart. No one else needed to know about them, much less Tallest Miyuki and Commander Poki. He bit back the panic that was rising in his chest, no matter how reluctantly, sitting taller in his seat.

"You should be honored," the commander said flatly, glancing to him for the first time since they'd taken off. He nodded somberly. "Tallest Miyuki has not taken this decision lightly."

"What decision?" He asked, coming across a bit more demanding than he'd initially intended. He flinched internally, waiting for some sort of backlash. None came.

Instead, he was met with something worse.

Silence.

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THERE IT IS. Chapter 1! I have Chapter 2 in the works already, and will try to update weekly/bi-weekly. Please drop a review and let me know how I'm doing, what you'd love to see, what you like so far, etc etc! Everything helps! 

_Reviews feed me_. Feedback feeds me. It really does. Thank you all~!


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